The Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce hosted their third golf tournament, the Fall B2B Golf Classic, on Friday, October 1, 2021 at the Mount Anthony Country Club in Bennington, Vermont.
A sunny fall day on the first of October saw ten teams, made up of 40 plus business and nonprofit golfers total, hit the greens for a shotgun start at 12:30 pm at the course.
The Chamber of Commerce invited their business and nonprofit members to enjoy an afternoon of golf and networking while taking in the fresh fall air. The event served as a day out of the office and an opportunity to network with local business and nonprofit leaders. Additionally, the event served as a fundraiser for the Chamber.
“What’s great about this tournament is the joining together of Northshire, Southshire and tri-state organizations in one afternoon to network and have fun,” says Matt Harrington, executive director of the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce. “Look at the players, the sponsors, the gift donations and even the volunteers - it really is a community of organizations coming together. We hope this tournament demonstrates the strength of the business community, the synergy of the region and relationships being built.”
The B2B Golf Classic (or Business To Business Golf Classic) was an 18 hole golf scramble. Participants enjoyed their eighteen holes with carts, a golfers’ gift, lunch in the clubhouse donated by the Mount Anthony Country Club and an after hours networking mixer with Hors D’ Oeuvres and a cash bar at the Club.
Contests at the tournament included a Hole-in One with a $10,000 prize sponsored by The Richards Group but yet again no team hit the hole-in-one!
Up for grabs for the teams at the B2B Classic was the coveted B2B Cup, a die cast with nickel plated trophy on a wooden base provided by Tomasi’s Sports and Awards. The past two tournaments saw The Richards Group team take home the Cup. After scores were tallied by the Mount Anthony Country Club golf pro Drew Keaffabe, a joint team of GVH Studio and Suburban Propane would come in as the number one team and take home the Cup. The winning team also received a $2,000 grand prize split between 4 players and Mount Anthony Country Club certificates to come back and play for free for each player. Second place winners were the Mount Anthony Club team with each player receiving an Equinox Golf Resort and Spa gift certificate to play at the Northshire course. Third place winners were the Barnstead Inn whose players all received a wine and popcorn package provided by small business member couch + cork.
Other prizes included Closest To The Pin with the chance to win a basket full of maple products provided by Glastenview Farms; the winner was Ed Sargood of the Bank of Bennington Team. Women’s Longest Drive and Men’s Longest Drive with a prize of assorted products from Hildene went to Maru Leon Griffin of the Mount Anthony Country Club team and Tyler Cinelli of the Williams Financial team respectively. Before the tournament started, players had a chance to also enter a 50/50 raffle with Karen Jernigan of Power Guru taking home the winnings.
Participating business teams in the Classic included: At Home Senior Care, Coggins Auto Group, The Bank of Bennington, Le Blanc’s Auto, the Manchester Business Association, the Mount Anthony Country Club, Power Guru, Suburban Propane, The Inn at Manchester, The Barnstead Inn, Williams Financial, GVH Studio, and Creative Labels of Vermont.
Sponsors for the Classic included Presenting Sponsor Ramunto’s + The Avocado Pit + Buckstop, Southwestern Vermont Health Care as the Health and Safety Sponsor, The Bank of Bennington as the Player Gift Sponsor, Village Garage as the Hospitality Sponsor, Coggins Auto Group as the Drink Cart Sponsor, TPW Real Estate as the Hydration Sponsor and Hoffman Real Estate as the Putting Green Sponsor.
Tee Sponsors included: Four Chimneys Inn, Express Lube, The Inn at Manchester, The Shires Young Professionals, At Home Senior Care, The Pharmacy, Manchester Business Association, Edward Jones, William C. Deveneau ESQ PLC, Williams Financial, The Shires of Southwestern Vermont DMO, Union Underground, and Vermont Innovation Box.
Following the day of golf was an after party networking mixer hosted by the Chamber on the patio and ballroom of the Country Club. More business and nonprofit members joined the golfers for hor d'oeuvres, networking, a cash bar and door prizes as the night wrapped up.
The Chamber would like to especially thank the Mount Anthony Country Club for being terrific hosts and partners in the fall Classic. The Chamber would also like to thank: couch + cork, Glastenview Maple Farm, Village Garage, Ramuntos, White Rocks Design, The Avocado Pit, Hildene - The Lincoln Family Home, Tomasi’s Sports and Awards, Union Underground, The Richards Group, The Equinox Golf Resort and Spa, Maru Leon Design, Crae Printing and Staples.
“It was amazing to see the wide variety in sponsorship and help for this tournament,” remarked Harrington. “We had some great volunteers show up early in the morning to help us set up and that’s always a big help. I want to extend a special thank you to our small Chamber staff who less than thirty days ago pulled off a huge success with Garlic Town USA only to turn around and make another great day for our small business members - that’s something I’m equally proud of.”
All proceeds went to the Chamber of Commerce as a fundraiser for future program and business support and development.
The Chamber’s B2B Golf Classic Committee is made up of Chamber staff members Matt Harrington, Erika Floriani and Mikaela Lewis, as well Board Directors Matt Willey, Brian Maggiotto, Maru Leon Griffin, Erica Lawrence-Dearstyne, and William Deveneau.
Photo: Fall 2021 B2B Golf Classic First Place Winners - Greg Van Houten and Nicole Minchew of GVH Studio and Gerry Hoyt and Mike Mears of Suburban Propane pictured with Matt Harrington, executive director of the Chamber (left) and Erika Floriani, membership manager of the Chamber (right) receiving the B2B Cup (photo credit Southwestern Vermont Chamber)